


Night Sorrows

by INKyy



Category: Luigi's Mansion (Video Games), Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Issues, King Boo is trying, King Boo's a mischievous grump, Luigi is precious, M/M, My precious sons, Nightmares, Old villain trying to do good things, PATHETIC!, Semi-mute Luigi headcannon, Sleepytime troubles, WHERE MY KING BOO X LUIGI FICS AT?, YA'LL BE SLACKING
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INKyy/pseuds/INKyy
Summary: Despite being a terrifying specter well acquainted with nightmares; most of the time, being the direct reason for it to his countless victims... King Boo doesn't actually know how to properly handle in dealing with the nightmares of a certain green plumber...
Relationships: King Boo/Luigi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 100





	Night Sorrows

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, what up my archive peeps. Name's INK.  
> Been noticing a lack of King Boo x Luigi fics round these parts...  
> This of course will not be tolerated.  
> So, if you want something done right...
> 
> You just do it yourself...  
> By the by, this is my first time posting on this website, so if some stuff seems off... That's why.  
> Sorry not sorry...

As King of all kinds of frightening specters and ghouls, it was of no surprise that King Boo was very well acquainted with things like  **_nightmares_ ** . Most of the time,  _ being entirely responsible for them.  _

Though in all honesty, he found them to be one of the least impressive things he could do to his countless victims…

Like,  _ really _ . You’d simply experience a dream that was just so realistic and so terrifying, to the point you’d jump out of bed either screaming or crying. He admittedly found the whole ordeal kind of overdramatic sometimes… But then again, It  _ did  _ make things easier for him just to give a good scare that left such an impact that it lasted for weeks, or maybe even  _ years later _ in the dreams of his victims. 

He’d simply considered it a mark of his pure talent.

Of course, he himself had never  **_actually_ ** experienced something even remotely like that in his entire existence. You don’t exactly  _ need _ sleep when you’re a literal ball of physical energy, much less dream. So it didn’t help his complete apathy for the concept much…

_...So when he started hearing sobbing from below him, where he had hovered over Luigi's bed boredly; King Boo was a little more than just confused. _

While the crowned specter had emphasized to the man many times before in the past,  _ that he did not in fact  _ **_need_ ** _ any form of rest, _ Luigi was still very insistent about at least sharing a room at night when the ghost decided to stay over. Which overall, the King didn't mind too much. Honestly, he had become such an absolute  _ sucker _ for this stupidly adorable green plumber, that it wasn't even funny anymore…

It kinda amused him somewhat that they had gone from once being at each other's throat constantly, to freaking  _ dating _ after several years.

So, of course he couldn't help but raise a creased brow in concern. Flipping over from glaring at the ceiling to look down at where the sleeping green plumber was. And it wasn’t long before he saw the twitch in their mustache, as Luigi whimpered piteously at whatever images his subconscious was creating for him.

This only worried the large apparition further, quickly lowering himself down to the bed to wake them up.

King Boo had found it weird how Luigi hadn't just woken himself up yet. Heck, the man was the lightest sleeper he had ever met,  _ probably due with all the constant harassment of the villains from the many adventures he had gone on... _ Not to mention that such night terrors usually ended when the crying began, at least the ones the boo had witnessed before… But no. Apparently, something about  _ this _ dream had held some great dominion over Luigi that made it difficult for the plumber to wake up.

The more King Boo analyzed him, the more he realized this probably wasn’t your  _ average _ nightmare… He wasn’t sure if this was even a sleep terror at all as he watched Luigi, noting he did not writhe about violently in his sleep. Rather, he only squeezed his eyes tighter shut and clenched his pillow harder in a vice grip. Continuing to sob and whine gibbering nonsense in his sleep.

The boo eventually had enough of this, and placed a small, white palm on the sleeping man's shoulder and shook him hard.  **_"Luigi, wake up."_ ** He muttered in a calm voice, yet unintentionally sounding somewhat annoyed in his tone. His never ending scowl probably wouldn't have helped in that interpretation had his partner actually woken up.

However, the plumber only whined louder in response instead of rising from his fitful sleep. As if King Boo's attempts had only made it worse for him as they tried to shift out of the spirit's grasp.

This elicited another harsher shake from the ghost, his voice starting to sound a little more concerned and demanding as he continued to usher Luigi into rousing.

**_"Luigi, you need to wake up!"_ ** King Boo ordered.  _ It was a no go _ , Luigi had still remained comatose.

_ He was gonna make him do it, wasn't he?  _ Despite the slightly worrying situation before him, King Boo couldn't help but smirk at the excuse to pull out an old favorite he used to do on the plumber when he was sleeping. 

_ You know, until he was so rudely chided by said plumber to never do it again...  _ He remembered bitterly.

His smirk grew into a wicked open mouthed grin, a long tongue had lolled out from the darkness behind his sharp teeth. Before firmly pressing it down onto the small man's face and slowly dragging it upwards, a wet, slimy path tracking behind where the wet muscle moved.

And to King Boo's credit, it proved  **far** more effective than the previous methods. Feeling an unmistakable wriggling from beneath him, muffled grunts and whines emanated from the now  **_very_ ** awake Luigi, trying in vain to sit up from under the viscous appendage. 

Noting this, with only a slight feeling of disappointment that he probably won’t find another good excuse in the future anytime soon… He quickly retracted his tongue to grin smugly at the now glowering plumber, almost too pleased to see the slight shimmer added to his pale skin from the saliva, that had reflected brightly off the soft moonlight.

**_“Why good evening, my little sleeping beauty~. How was your nap?”_ ** He purred in a mockery of innocence, practically humming every syllable that fell from his mouth. Luigi wasn’t as amused however, clearly very grumpy from being woken up so suddenly and in a fashion that he had made expressly clear was condemned to the ghost. 

He tried smoothing back his brown hair,  _ having also become tangled and wet from the lapping of the mischievous specter. _ Quietly grumbling his tired complaints to the guilty ghost in question, who only continued to float seemingly unbothered in the air in front of the man.  _ He had more important concerns for the green man tonight. _

**_“Yes yes, and I’m sorry for that… But, in my defense! You wouldn’t respond to anything else I’ve tried. And it looked like you could’ve used the incentive to wake up…”_ ** He only let his playful tone falter slightly when referencing the apparent nightmare Luigi had been having, and judging by the now downcasted look of guilt from the plumber, he had been right in that statement, and Luigi couldn’t argue.

King Boo huffed at the sight.

**_“So, are you going to tell me what happened?”_ ** The boo asked expectantly, raising a curious brow. When there wasn’t an immediate response from his partner, he decided to add a more mischievous comment to at least lighten the mood for the nervous man.  **_“Or am I gonna have to lick you again for my answers?”_ **

This earned a comical, warning squint that had  _ “don’t you dare”  _ written all over it from Luigi. And the ghost allowed himself a light chuckle at the amused expression, slightly poking his tongue out in jest and wriggling his brows. 

**_“Well, my dear~?”_ **

Luigi then broke away from his frisky squint to let out a drawn out sigh of admitted defeat, his small frown returning with the memory of his nightmare. 

_ If there was anything Luigi hated more, it was feeling invisible. Sure, he had certainly gotten more used to it as the years progressed. And his friends and family around him had always made sure to make him feel included and not just a small tag along.  _ **_Especially_ ** _ his brother, who no doubt felt guilty for being the reason that Luigi would feel this way. _

_ And he truly did appreciate it a great deal! But... Then he’d only begin to feel selfish for having everyone feel so inclined to make him feel even a little special. They shouldn’t have to go out of their ways to make him feel included, it made him feel like a needy child. _

_ So, that would cause him to pretend that sometimes… He didn’t  _ **_want_ ** _ to tag along on some adventures! That they didn’t feel they _ **_had_ ** _ to bring him along if he’d just prefer to stay at home alone, where it was safe and quiet! Yeah, go ahead, Mario! You have fun and save that princess from that mean old lizard! He’ll be just fine right here! _

**_Alone..._ **

_ And that’s exactly how the dream felt. Luigi was in his house, he couldn’t remember why he was wandering around it but he did. Maybe it was because it had felt… Wrong. Empty. Almost abandoned...  _

_ His heart had twisted when he came across one of the many picture frames that were set up on one of the wooden surfaces of a coffee table. It was simply a picture of Mario.  _ **_That didn’t make sense._ ** _ He knew this particular picture in the real world, and it was of  _ **_both_ ** _ of them smiling happily at the camera. Yet, there was that large open space where Luigi should’ve been… _

_ Upon further inspection, he found that all of the pictures in the home, while not all predominantly Mario… Had no sign of Luigi. Like he was scrubbed on each one that contained him, some pictures that might’ve only had him were just… Not there at all. Replaced with an empty wall space. If a stranger entered the Mario Bros’ home, they would’ve assumed that the red hero lived alone. Much less, even had a brother at all! _

_ And there was that terribly familiar empty pit in the green plumber’s stomach… The one that came with the loneliness of being left out…  _

_ Then… Mario entered the house. It had briefly startled Luigi for a moment…  _

_ And he didn’t come alone! Behind him flooded in their friends,  _ **_his_ ** _ friends! Maybe, they had all come over to hang out with the brothers? Maybe they came back to get him, so they could bring him along for Go-Karting?  _

_ But, when he had tried talking to them to both greet them and ask what they were doing here, they merely kept up some senseless chattering amongst each other as if Luigi hadn’t even spoken up at all…  _

_ Were they… just distracted with one another in their own conversations, as they piled into his home towards the living room? But that wouldn’t make any sense, Mario had always said at least a simple hi to his brother when they saw each other. Heck, he was the only one not speaking as he proceeded into the living room-  _ **_Not even LOOKING at his beloved brother!_ **

_ Was he beloved...? _

_ Luigi tried speaking up again, but he found his words lodged in his throat when his brother had literally walked through his body as if he were nothing more than a mirage. Trying to shake off the initial shock, passing it off for slight delirium from his rushing pulse that beat heavily in his ears; He made a rough grab for his sibling’s shoulder, practically shouting at him for at least some sort of explanation! _

_ But, it didn’t even make contact with the sleeve. To the green brother’s horror, it only held the similar result of passing through Mario’s arm. The green plumber just… Froze at this. _

_ Luigi just stood there, scared for himself. He hardly felt if at all as the others behind him followed suit in his brother’s example. Passing through him as if he were nothing more than an unseen ghost.  _

_ He felt a flurry of emotions rush into him at an alarming rate, yet his head spun with only one thought that spelt “invisible” to him constantly. Anger, confusion, fear and sorrow all held an unbalanced dominion over his heart as he felt his throat tear and burn in a strained growl of all four. _

_ He screamed. _

_ It was more out of pure desperation, than out of sheer terror.  _ **_They had to hear him! He was there! He existed!_ ** __

_ He shouted, screeched like a bat out of hell, howling with reckless abandon. The rising pain in his vocals, demanding for relent only fueled his resolve to scream some more rather than stopped it. He felt the threat of tears beginning to prickle at the corners of his eyes like tiny needles, but he refused to let that stop him. _

_ Then… He wasn’t entirely sure if they heard him or not, or maybe that it was something someone had said that he didn’t hear over his own incessant screams of want that had immediately fallen silent over the new blustering noise. _

_ They started laughing.  _ **_Hysterically_ ** _ , they started laughing. _

_ It was joyous. Boisterous even, as it reverberated off the walls. What should’ve been a sound to make him feel warm, had only made him feel a shiver run along his spine. It felt like mockery to him. A slice of something he could never have that stood just out of his reach, that they all somehow knew it was what he had wanted terribly. It felt so… Cruel. _

_ He didn’t refuse bawling his eyes out at that point… Even if it did seem to make the mindless cackles all the more stark to the destroyed plumber, who had now crumpled to the floor like an abused piece of paper. Receding inside himself to try and block out the painful sounds as he whimpered piteously. _

_ It had felt like hours, before he had finally felt the cold and wet sensation of a tongue prod at his face to bring him back to reality. _

**_“Luigi…”_ ** What else could King Boo say after hearing something that personal from the shivering man in front of him? He wanted to comfort the plumber, but he knew that’d probably backfire in his face. The specter was far from someone who knew how to console a clearly frightened person!

King Boo was more adept at  **giving** nightmares, not  **stopping** them!

The younger brother reeled back his attention with a calm, if not a little shaky wave of his hand to relent the large ghost. Quietly brushing off the experience as nothing more than a dream...

That however, seemed to strike a chord with the boo.  **_“Just a dream…? Luigi, if that was what you consider a simple dream then I don’t even want to bother with what’s a nightmare to you!”_ ** He chided, crossing his arms in an annoyed huff with the plumber.

However, when he saw Luigi’s arms slump in shame at the comment, the ghost felt a stab in the gut.

**_Wait, no… He wasn’t supposed to feel guilty about it…_** The boo realized in his own growing guilt. **_Fool! You’re supposed to be comforting him in this! Try again!_** He was never good at the whole _‘compassion’_ aspect of the relationship, King Boo will admit that much… But, he was getting better.

He quietly floated next to the saddened plumber, resting a white mitt on the man’s shoulder in an effort of comfort.  **_“I’m sorry.”_ ** King Boo was genuine in this apology. Luigi looked up with disheartened curiosity from the unusual serious tone in the ghost’s voice.  **_“Let me try that again…”_ **

**_“Look… I get the whole, invisible thing. I mean, I’m I boo aren’t I? It’s kinda our whole thing? Heh…”_ ** He mentally back-handed himself, he had a point somewhere in this, right? Quit trying to joke and do that whole sympathizing thing!

He grumbled at the imaginative berating. Eyeing the green man in the corner of his vision, raising an analytical brow.  **_“Uh, but you do know that your friends are never going to really forget about you, right?”_ ** Luigi nodded. Of course he knew that, why ask that?

**_“Well then, why let this dream get to ya so much? If you knew it could never happen, why did it… bother you so much…?”_ ** Luigi shrugged, simply believing that maybe he just got caught up in the dream that he hadn’t realized it even was…King Boo narrowed his eyes a bit at the man, catching him off-guard a bit.  **_“Maybe so… But, I know how you are when you’re left home alone while your good ol’ brother Mario’s out saving another damsel. Whenever I came over to visit, you were so freaking needy it was almost annoying! Heheh!”_ **

Luigi glared at that.  **_“Hey hey! I said_ ** **_almost_ ** **_!”_ ** The crowned boo defended, holding his mitts up in a surrender.  **_“C’mon, you know I found it more cute if anything else~!”_ ** This response instead gained an annoyed grumble from Luigi, but the boo knew he was good in covering his bases when he noticed the small and unmistakable blush creeping on the man’s face.

The amusing pout could only hide it so much from him.

**_“Heh, yeah… But, you know my point still stands, right? You’re dependent. Now I guess there's nothing wrong with that inherently... But if this is a nightly thing with you, then I need you to start talking to me about it more frequently. Or better yet, your brother, whom I bet is probably better suited for this sort of thing...”_ ** Luigi looked down at that, and for one frantic second the specter had thought that he messed up again. But, then it clicked.  **_“My word, this IS a nightly thing with you, isn’t it...?”_ **

The green plumber only shrunk down more at that in guilt. 

_ Geez… King Boo was  _ **_not_ ** _ prepared for tonight…  _ But, like heck was he gonna back down from it!   
  


Without a word and to Luigi’s surprise, he felt the ghost somehow wriggle his way behind him. Moving the pillows out the way to make way for himself, as he curled around his favorite human. King Boo sighed heavily.  **_“O-kay…”_ ** He heaved, relaxing into the new position in between a boyfriend and bedframe.

**_“Do you feel invisible now?”_ **

Luigi stiffened slightly. Not afraid like he might’ve been had this been, like… a few years ago. No, he knew there wasn’t much to be afraid of in this oversized marshmallow. He just felt nervous, surprised even. 

_ Now this really wasn’t necessary- _

**_“Apparently it is, if you’re really_** ** _THIS_** ** _needy…”_** The ghost rumbled behind him. The surprising soft sounds of thunder and rain echoing from inside the boo had started easing the small plumber into a state of drowsiness. _It was familiar, merely a symbol of the specter’s pure energy._ _He always liked the calm echoes of distant thunder and rain… As long as it wasn’t too loud and sudden…_

_ Wait, no! Not yet! He can’t pass out again! _ Especially not like  _ this _ ! He knew King Boo couldn’t actually sleep, at most he could rest his eyes, but not pass the time napping! He was basically acting as a make-shift pillow at this point just to soothe Luigi, this wasn’t fair to him!

**_“Calm down, greenie.”_ ** The ghost assured, feeling the sadly familiar anxiousness coming in waves from the tired man.  **_“Trust me, I don’t mind this at all… I’m doing this because I want to.”_ ** With that, the ghost rested his oversized head on one of the pillows he had moved out of the way to make room for himself. His crown tilting slightly to the side as he laid there calmly, about the calmest the human had ever seen the boo.

Another subtle rumble from the ghost’s energy caught Luigi’s declining attention again, further drawing the man closer to a desired dreamless sleep. Finally relaxing into the surprisingly soft side of the ghost, perfectly living up to the nickname “oversized marshmallow”.

Briefly, Luigi looked up to see his face again. Seeing the ghost’s eyes lightly shut as his face relaxed. His tongue slightly poking out from the side of his mouth. With a small smile, Luigi finally let go on the tenuous hold of his consciousness. Only one thought left in his mind.

_ ‘Strange. He surprisingly gives himself little credit. _

_ He’s actually pretty good at making me feel better…’ _


End file.
